Thousands of Palestinians fled to southern Gaza in search of refuge on Friday after Israel warned them to evacuate before an expected ground offensive against Hamas in retaliation for the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.
The order came as Israel amassed tanks near the Gaza Strip. Nearly 1,800 Gazans, including over 580 children, have been killed in waves of missile strikes on the densely populated enclave, the health ministry said.
According to Israel, Hamas took an estimated 150 Israeli, foreign and dual-national hostages back to Gaza during its initial attack.
More than 423,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations said, following heavy Israeli bombardments in retaliation for Hamas’s attacks.
As of late Thursday, the number of displaced in Gaza rose by 84,444 people to reach 423,378, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said in a statement sent on Friday. Hamas said Friday that 13 hostages had been killed in Israeli air strikes.
